TodayWords from the heart
What she learned for a Poetry Out Loud competition became more than just a performance, teen says
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Emily Nunez learned “Bilingual/Bilingüe” for a Poetry Out Loud contest at Carlisle High School, then took it to district and state competitions.
But somewhere along the way, says Emily, 18, the poem by Rhina P. Espaillat became more than an entry, more than a performance.
The realization began the night before the state competition, Emily says, when her father, retired Army Col. Joe Nunez, returned from a stint advising in Iraq.
“I really wanted to see what his reaction was, and to see if it impacted him,” Emily says. “I was really nervous to see what he would think.”
She explains that her grandfather was from Bolivia and that the interweaving of Spanish and English appealed to her. But, she says, even more than that was the poem’s theme that a family bond can be stronger than the differences between people.
A senior, Emily is in the midst of making college decisions. With a father in the military, she says, her acceptance to the U.S. Naval Academy ” as well as other colleges ” meant a lot to her family. But she recently has started developing her artistic side, writing for the school newspaper and participating in an improvisational comedy group, leading her to wonder if the Naval Academy path was really the one she wanted to walk.
“I think it was easier for me to say these poems to my dad than to just come out and say it,” Emily says. “I think that whole theme was resonating, and it didn’t come out until the night before. I was just so excited, because I wanted to show my dad what I could do in a different area besides that.”
“I think she had a natural talent for all of this,” says Matt Fahnestock, a teacher who coaches Emily in the comedy group and helped her with the poems. “She had just never tapped into it before.”
He makes all of his students memorize a poem, Fahnestock says, and over the years has found that “even the most athletic, non-poetic, sophomore guy seems to really connect to the poem.”
But Emily’s poem, he says, was special.
“It all had to do with her father,” Fahnestock said. “It was just this great moment of connection for her.”
Both Emily and her father agree that the poem hit home.
“It was particularly meaningful,” Joe Nunez says. He had not expected to be back in time for the competition, he says, and hearing something that spoke to his family’s experience meant a great deal to him.
“I looked at him at the end and I actually saw tears in his eyes,” Emily says. “It’s probably one of the first times I’ve ever seen my dad do that.”
And, she says, after seeing her perform the poem, “he told me really sincerely that he didn’t think that (the Naval Academy) was the perfect place for me.”
Satisfied with second
An avid athlete ” she is in her second year as captain of the varsity lacrosse team and plays year round ” Emily says she is naturally competitive. But her experience with the poem eventually led her to be really happy she won second at the state competition, instead of first.
“If I had won, I think I would have cherished that whole experience for the win,” Emily says. Now, “I’ll remember the experience, and I’ll remember what it was like just to explain and act out these poems ” to have complete silence and go on the stage. I am sharing these poems that I love.”
Asked about his daughter now, Joe Nunez doesn’t mention the Naval Academy. Instead, he says that she writes for the school paper and is thinking of majoring in journalism.
As for Emily, she is still glad to have won second place and appreciative of those who, like Fahnestock and principal Rick Abele, aided her in getting there ” and thereby helped her father understand what she wasn’t quite sure how to tell him.
“I am just really thankful that I had those poems,” she says.
